


Corvo, the Terror of Dunwall

by allsilverone



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, High Chaos (Dishonored), High Chaos Corvo Attano, High Chaos Week 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-19 02:02:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11303448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allsilverone/pseuds/allsilverone
Summary: Corvo’s coming for us Daud, and he’s got nothing but blood on his mind.





	Corvo, the Terror of Dunwall

**Author's Note:**

> Short drabble for High Chaos week 2017

“Corvo’s coming for us Daud, and he’s got nothing but blood on his mind.”

“You let me worry about that when the time comes. If it comes.”

“Send some of us to finish off the Royal Protector. I’d rather face him head-on.”

“We have bigger targets to consider right now. Corvo didn’t turn one of our own against us. He didn’t send Overseers into our backyard. Delilah did.”

“If Corvo…”

“Maybe you should do something more useful than standing by this window, pissing your pants about Corvo.”

“As you wish.”

The Master Assassin clenched his fist in preparation for a transversal.

“Wait Fergus.”

“Sir?” The Whaler asked in trepidation, tilting his head to the side, waiting for orders.

Daud considered the proposition his man had raised, not that it hasn’t already crossed his mind more than once. Why else would he be dreaming of the escaped Royal Protector, a reoccurring nightmare where his life ended at the Bodyguard turned Assassin’s hands. Whether it was losing to a clash of swords, his throat stealthfully slit or being devoured alive by rats, the bloody dream always ended the same. His life was the one forfeit. It was conceivable that these dreams were warnings of the events to come, and if so he should do everything to avoid what they foretold.

Corvo did indeed have blood on his mind. The Masked Felon as he was now being labeled. No longer any title of honor deemed viable enough for the man leaving nothing but slaughter in his wake. Daud thought his own hands were stained with blood, but Corvo’s were dripping, bloody and warm. He’d cut a swath of destruction through Clavering Boulevard, Novice Scouts reporting City Guards cast into Walls of Light, heads severed from bodies and Weepers mangled without limbs, still withering on the ground. By the time Corvo was done, only rats were left to gnaw on the remains.

Daud’s eyes snap to Fergus’ through his mask, “Follow me.”

He turned and marched back into his office, red coat spilling out behind him, knowing the Whaler would follow. Thomas was still leaning over a Wanted Poster of Lizzy Stride, hands splayed against the desk. The Novice who'd scouted Coldridge, Rinaldo, glanced up at them as they approached.

“Change of plan Thomas” Daud rasped out as he seized the Poster from between the man’s arms making him flinch. “Lizzy can wait, we are going to deal with the Royal Protector before he eliminates all sources of income in this city.” He tore the poster in two, casting it back down in front of a perplexed Thomas, before striding around the desk to pull out a map of the Distillery District.

“Master Daud, are you sure?” Thomas barely got the words out before Daud’s hand struck him through the mask and he had to catch himself against the desk to avoid stumbling to the floor.

“Assemble the men, every Master and Novice.” he glowered down at Thomas, arms folded over his chest. “Unless you have any other suggestions you’d like to voice.” Thomas yanked off his mask and spat some blood on the floor. His blonde hair was tangled, dirt streaked across his face despite having been covered. Dark circles were evident under his eyes. 

“As is your will.” Thomas bowed and transversed. 

“Rinaldo, find me the last report on Slackjaw's Distillery” and the younger Serkonan man inclined his head and vanished also. Daud turned back to Fergus whose shoulders were tense, his hands clasped behind him and Daud suspected he was rubbing his fingers in the aggravating gesture he’d picked up as a Novice on guard duty. “Fergus, you were so concerned about the Royal Protector’s wrath towards us that you will be the first I call upon when I face him.”

The Whaler couldn’t help but take a step back before he remembered himself and bowed his head towards his Master. “We will silence him” 

Daud made a half snorting noise in his throat before pulling a cigarette from a pack stashed in his bandolier. As he lifted it to his lips, he noticed his hand shaking just a little. He’d been to Holger Square and seen with his own eyes the bodies upon bodies of slain Overseers, strewn haphazardly in the square and along the corridors of the Office of the High Overseer. He’d seen Hounds slain in their kennels and music boxes smashed and broken on the ground. High Overseer Campbell and Officer Curnow both poisoned, vomit and spittle oozing from their mouth. He flicked the lighter and lit the cigarette on the first try, they weren’t Whalers. 

\--

Daud lead the Whalers to Clavering Boulevard via the sewers and rooftops. Their Contacts and Networks had confirmed the Loyalists were translating a Journal taken from the High Overseer, which could only mean they would soon look for Princess Emily at the Golden Cat. The Masked Felon would be passing once again through Bottle Street or Clavering Boulevard.

On arrival, the first thing Daud noticed was the suspicious silence from the harbor and as they approached it became evident that Corvo's bloody fury had already transpired. The Watchtower was disabled, Whale Oil leaking over the street below, along with the body parts and guts of a dozen guards freshly decomposing in the small square. Rats were clambering and tearing at the bodies almost making Daud force his gaze away from the carnage. From the back of the group there were sounds of gagging and retching at having to witness the scene, and as the smell drifted up to Daud, he wished he had the luxury of a whaler mask to filter it.

The Wall of Light was not down and they circled around to Bottle Street. As they ventured cautiously towards Slawjack’s domain the smell of alcohol coupled with burning flesh descended upon Daud’s nostrils and he gritted his teeth in disgust. It could only mean the Bottle Street Gang were fighting Corvo. Smashes and yells could be heard inside the Distillery, along with strangled cries of lives being ended. What sort of man was this? 

Thomas appeared suddenly in front of him and with Daud’s senses so focused, the Whaler was lucky to not lose his life. 

“Attano is in there Sir.” Thomas audibly swallowed, “It’s a massacre.”

“Let him tire himself out, we’ll wait for him here.” Daud commanded in a low rumble. Thomas bowed before issuing precise orders to the twenty men they had with them. They spread out, positioning themselves high around the only exit from Slackjaw’s Distillery. 

Daud crouched inside an abandoned apartment building and waited. He knew that ending the Empress’ life had been a mistake, that the Outsider should have warned him that the city he earnt a living from would crumble to dust around him due to his actions. But he wondered if the Bastard had foreseen this dark harbinger of vengeance descending upon the city, he had marked him after all. Perhaps he thought it all terribly amusing. Daud did not.

The Distillery entrance creaked open and an incarnation of death itself emerged. His once regal clothing was now tattered, hanging losing from his thin frame. His boots and tails of his coat encased with dirt and grime picked up along the streets and sewers of Dunwall. Blood, both old and new was splattered along his shirt front and the sleeves of his navy coat. His hair now matted together and fell down to his shoulders from behind a welded monstrosity of metal and wires. A mask of death, dealing his own form of vengeance to any that crossed his path.

He didn’t creep like the Assassin the City Watch claimed him to be, he plowed forwards from the entrance way, sword drawn and ready. Daud had little time to react, having expected shadows and stealth. He should have known. Raising his hand, he signaled with two fingers towards the Royal Protector and three of the hidden Whalers descended to the Alley below. As soon as the first Whaler appeared in front of him, Corvo also vanished but in a Blink of light rather than smoke and twisting void fragments. Fergus lost his life with a stab wound to the side and exploded into a cloud of ash. Daud brows furrowed, at least there would be no corpses to dispose of. 

The two other Whalers encircled Corvo and they both charged for him together but this Serkonan had won the Blade Verbana. He parried once, twice, a high feint and then it was over. They lost their lives to experienced footwork and superior skill. Thomas shifted beside Daud and he glanced at his Second’s uneasy posture. 

It was a foolish notion to send a few men at a time, Corvo’s life would end this day. Before Daud could issue any further orders however, the Royal Protector Blinked himself up to the rooftops and summoned rats from the Void itself. They swarmed and wriggled, thrashing their pink tails against each other and squeaking in a violent uproar. Daud stood then in disbelief as the rats leapt onto the nearest of his men, tearing at flesh through the heavy uniform. Two Whalers attempted to flee the rats and were catapulted off the roof in with a gust of wind so violent it billowed Daud’s coat out from the opposite building. Neither man had the sense to transverse and they became just another cloud of ash in the Felon’s wake.

Daud had seen enough and traversed high into the air above Attano to perform a devastating drop assassination on this horror of a man. Corvo looked up at the last moment and Blinked away forcing Daud to quickly readjust and transverse as well. Another Whaler attacked and was dispatched as Corvo made it back down into the alley. Daud signaled for the Whalers to follow but the Felon was quick, hurtling down into Clavering and Blinking close to Doctor Galvani’s house. Daud aimed and shot his wristbow at him from the rooftop as he reappeared and although it ripped a hole through his left shoulder, it didn’t seem to register. 

“Why are you fighting?” Daud yelled down at him before traversing into the street. “For the Loyalists?” The Royal Protector drew his pistol is response and fired but Daud lashed out, catching the bullet with a green tethering spell, flinging it aside. “For your dead Empress?” 

Corvo let out a strangled snarl of rage and charged at Daud. The Knife of Dunwall parried and dodged an unrelenting wave of blows which ended in a grinding screech as their swords locked together. Their eyes met, both men were breathing hard at the effort.

“Did you ever think you deserved to lose your empress?” Daud rasped, teeth almost barred. “That a better man took her life while you gaped like a fool?” Daud pushed all his force into the exchange. “Come on, Corvo. Prove me wrong.” The mask tilted almost as if Corvo were smiling and suddenly he vanished, not a blink, but something else.

Daud whirled around as Thomas charged at him from behind, sword drawn, mask forgotten on the paving slabs and his eyes as black as the void. Possession. Daud had never seen it used before but heard of it during the travels of his youth. Daud felt his own rage close to boiling point that this disgusting worthless butcher would dare invade one of his own men. He parried a couple of wide sweeping slashes and thrusts that were nothing like Thomas’ careful blade work before disengaging with a transversal. 

Daud did have an option left. “Now we fight the duel that no two others could fight, against the ticking of the clock.” and he stopped time, forcing Corvo to exit Thomas' frozen body and return to his own. As soon as he did, Daud reached out with his left hand and gripped Corvo in a tethering, dragging him towards his awaiting blade but the Royal Protector made a bestial hissing noise and Blinked again, far back. Daud released the flow of time and Corvo took a bolt to the side from Thomas who was wiping away vomit from his mouth.

The skull mask fixated on Daud, who felt voices whispering in his head and an odd tugging sensation. “Nice try, Corvo.” he scoffed “But inside my mind is the last place you want to be.”

The rest of the Whalers had caught up and formed a loose circle around the three men but would not interfere without Daud’s command. Corvo was panting hard, a bolt in his shoulder and side, blood gushing from both wounds. 

"Test yourself again Corvo!" Daud gestured again with his hand and the Whalers fought hard, eventually driving the Masked Felon to his knees. Then Corvo Blinked again and was behind Daud, 

“Sir!” Thomas cried out but Daud had been prepared for it. Stabbing backwards, the Masked Felon Blinked right into Daud’s waiting knife. Daud span around, ruthlessly twisting the blade in Corvo's gut, before he slashed the embedded knife upwards in a brutal arc. The Royal Protector let out a gasp of air as he fell, slamming into the filth of the street. 

Daud stood over him, stamping a boot hard onto Attano’s left hand crushing the Mark of the Outsider and then his right, so his sword clattered from his grasp. Daud felt the tiny bones crushed beneath his feet. “Are you frightened?” smirked Daud. “Corvo, the terror of Dunwall?” 

Daud received no answer, so he crouched down over him and yanked the twisted mask from his face. As Corvo drew his last breath, Daud saw the eyes of the man Corvo had once been. The good, brave and kind man who had loved his Empress and his daughter. A man Daud had managed to destroy the day he slaughtered the Empress. 

The Knife of Dunwall ended Corvo the Blacks reign before it had even begun, and was free to cut his own swath through the city’s elite once again; this time without fear of reprisal.


End file.
